A Decade and a Half Ago
by VoledmortCan'tStopTheRock
Summary: Its Harry’s primary schools fifteen year reunion, but now he’s successful, handsome and has a happy family. How will his previous classmates react to seeing such a different Harry Potter from the ten year old orphaned pushover? please RR.


**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Shouldn't you know that by now?

**A/N: **Hopefully you'll enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

**Dedication:** To my lovely Grandmother, who is very very brave.

* * *

Harry stared at himself in the mirror. The black skivvy and denim jeans he wore seemed foreign after so many years of robes. His hair, he noted with disdain, was still as untameable as ever but still managed to hide his scar and his rectangular glasses (his circular ones were finally confiscated and replaced by Ginny) still covered his bright green eyes.

All in all he felt like a muggle again, even though his wand was still concealed under his sleeve.

Smiling he looked behind him in the mirror as Ginny sidled up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder blade, her round, taught belly pressing into him.

"Nervous?" she asked knowingly.

"Yeah," He breathed back, "All those people I haven't seen in ages, I can barely remember their names even. And the fact I haven't changed one bit from being a spindly little ten year old."

Harry felt her kiss between his shoulder blades, "You look dashing; it's a shame I can't go tonight, I would have loved to give a few women the 'he's mine' glare, but mum seems insistent to take me out to dinner."

Harry laughed, "You do that all the time Gin, when we go out."

"Ah, but it never gets old."

"I wouldn't worry, I'm sure Max Whitley will have all the attention, he always did back in my primary school days. The girls absolutely _adored _him."

"Oh I don't know….people can change."

"He would never change. He enjoyed it way to much for a ten year old, now that I look back on it."

Ginny laughed, "Dudley changed."

Harry smiled slightly, "Yeah, he did. Lucky for him."

She looked at her watch, "Oh you had better go, it starts in half an hour and you've got to drive there."

Harry sighed, "Do I _have to?_"

"Yes!" Ginny laughed, "You have to tell me all about how speechless they all were at seeing you."

"Okay, okay. Just let me get my keys."

"Here they are," Ginny said, holding them up, "I saved some time for you."

"Oh thanks!" he said, taking them and spinning around to face her, "I never realised how thoughtful you really are."

Ginny snickered, "Don't get used to it."

"I dare not."

"It's your fifteen year reunion," Ginny said happily as she walked with him to the garage, "don't you feel old?"

"I will only start feeling old when my kids start having kids."

Ginny laughed, "Long time to go then."

"It'll be gone in a flash, m'dear," Harry informed her as he flicked his wand at the garage door and got in the car, "but until then, adios!"

"Love you too."

Harry grinned, looking up at her crossed arms and teasing face, "Don't worry, I won't run off with Caroline Baker."

"You better not," called Ginny as he reversed out of the garage, "because you'll regret it horribly when I catch up with you!"

Harry laughed as he drove off, honking his goodbye.

It was time for a blast from the past.

The reunion venue was in a little hall a few miles away from his home that sat next to his old district primary school. Pulling up to it Harry realized how small it actually was, he guessed being ten and tiny really did make things look bigger.

Parking in one of the lots Harry walked up to the entrance, immediately recognising one of his old teachers from fourth grade – Mrs Huxley.

Mrs Huxley was probably one of the nicest teachers Harry had had, she seemed to realize his bullying predicament between him and his cousin and therefore refrained from placing them anywhere near each other. She also let him have some of her lunch on a few occasions when Dudley and his gang had stolen it. Her avocado sandwich was much better than anything Petunia ever gave him so Harry had immediately saw her as something close to an angel.

Her face was more lined than when he'd last seen her but she still had that same warm brown eyed smile that had comforted him so many times. He was slightly disappointed when she didn't seem to recognize him as he approached.

"Good evening Mrs Huxley," Harry greeted, "long time no see!"

"Good evening Mr -?" She smiled abashedly, "sorry dear, I don't remember much after twenty years…"

"Mr Potter, Harry Potter," he answered nicely. As much as he wished she'd recognized him he also hated forgetting names, "I believe you taught me… fourth grade?"

The effect was immediate. Mrs Huxley's face went from polite friendliness to complete and utter shock.

"Oh my _lord!_" she exclaimed, "Is that _you _Harry?"

He laughed, "I'm pretty sure it's me."

Mrs Huxley stepped back to observe him completely, "well you have _certainly _grown up! How _tall_ are you now?"

"Err….six foot….one, I think…"

"Jesus," she laughed, and her eyes focused on his face, "I remember when you could barely reach the top bench…and such a _handsome _man you've become too…"

Harry blushed, "don't _say _things like that Mrs Huxley…"

She chuckled, still observing him from head to foot, "I'm glad you've kept your modesty, Harry. That was always your best trait."

He grinned, "You're too kind."

"Just telling the truth dear," she answered airily before continuing, "So what do you do now? It's got to be something good to have you develop all those muscles…."

Harry had never heard her be so forward and grinned widely, whilst also simultaneously turning beet-red and running his hand through his hair nervously, "Well, I'm actually a Major-General in the Army."

Well, technically he was Deputy Head Auror in the Ministry for Magic but Major-General was a close enough equivalent in the muggle world. Harry thought so anyway. Ginny had tried to make him say he was Field –Marshal but Harry had thought that would be a way to obvious lie.

Mrs Huxley gaped, "_Goodness _Harry! You're successful as well! How many steps is that from the top…it's not that far from what I can recall…"

Harry racked his brains hastily; it was Major-General then Lieutenant-General then…

"Three ranks, Mrs Huxley."

"_Three!_" she exclaimed, "Well Harry, I always knew you'd be a high flyer but I never pegged you for a military man!"

"I never really did either," Harry laughed, "But it's played out pretty well for me these last twenty years."

He didn't think Voldemort and the war really needed a mention.

"Well you could definitely say that," she said and then looked around; "I suppose we should go in now, everyone else seems to be inside."

Harry nodded and proceeded to follow her into the hall where a group of about fifty people milled around talking, he recognized a few faces but otherwise he was completely oblivious and decided to just stand around, trying to look busy. He supposed Dudley would be here soon as well.

"Mrs Huxley?" questioned a voice from behind him.

Harry span around with Mrs Huxley and came face to face with three people he thought he'd long forgotten and would hopefully never remember or meet again. Alas, he was Harry Potter and so this, of course, did not happen.

Piers Polkiss, one of Dudley's old friends, stood looking rattier than ever, although slightly more plump than his previous ten year old frame. Whitney Fox, also another one of Harry's old antagonists, stood next to Piers and was dressed in something Ginny would never be seen dead in and next to her stood David Murray, a horsy guy who's favourite past time was telling Harry that everyone hated him and he should go drown himself.

"Yes?" asked Mrs Huxley warmly.

"I don't know if you remember us but we were all in your fourth grade class, I'm Whitney Fox, this is Piers Polkiss and this is David Murray," said Whitney with a plastic grin.

"Oh!" exclaimed Mrs Huxley, although Harry noted a distinct frostiness enter her voice, they never were very polite in class, "I remember you three! The rather boisterous ones right?"

"Yes, I think that would be right," said Whitney with a nervous chuckle.

"Yes I remember you very well," she smiled but Harry thought it looked a bit strained, however her eyes glinted strangely when she continued, "you were in the same class as Harry here, weren't you?"

David looked to Harry and gasped, "_Harry? _Harry _Potter?_ That's _you_?"

Harry smiled and looked down on him (he was now significantly taller), "Yes, the one and only."

"Christ," proclaimed Piers, "I always thought you'd turn out to be a weedy little accountant or something."

"Yeah," laughed Whitney, although in Harry's opinion it sounded a bit savage, "I always had you nailed down for a dweeby office job, not something that would turn you into…this!"

Harry raised an eyebrow slightly; Whitney and Piers obviously hadn't changed much over two decades, they still obviously judged everything on appearances.

"I – I mean you were always rather…intelligent I suppose…" Whitney seemed to have recognised her and Piers' blunders and then hastily tried to change the topic, "So then, what _do _you do? Something pretty strenuous I'd imagine…."

Harry opened his mouth but surprisingly Mrs Huxley beat him to it.

"He's in the army," she declared as if Harry were her favourite son who had just been voted into the Prime Ministership, "and has held the rank of Major-General for how many years now?"

Harry laughed nervously, "three, Mrs Huxley."

"Ah, that's right, now I remember," she announced, even though Harry had never told her in the first place, "and Major-General is only a few places from the top isn't it? How many ranks was it again until it's the top job?"

"Um, three Mrs Huxley." Harry was really starting to wonder what she was playing at now.

"Wow," exclaimed Whitney, and she seemed genuinely awed, "that's impressive Harry."

"Thanks," he answered, feeling complimented for once in his life from her.

"I'm surprised, you never really were a fighter," said David, and then added a little too enthusiastically, "are you going into any war zones soon?'

Harry nearly laughed out loud, David Murray obviously wasn't a military man, "I'm sorry David, but that's confidential."

He blushed slightly, "well, yes, of course, my mistake…"

Harry decided to put him out of his small bout of misery, "So what do you guys do now?"

"I'm a teacher," answered Whitney, "for year twos."

Mrs Huxley made a strange coughing noise that Harry wasn't so sure was actually a genuine cough. He decided not to read into it more than necessary but he had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking.

"Yeah, Whitney teaches only a few kilometres down the road from me," Said David, "I'm working as an engineer for British Airways."

"Oh that's good," said Harry, trying to quickly remember his Muggle information, "We need lots of engineers for the RAF divisions that support us."

"Yeah, we sometimes see those fighter jets take off down at Heathrow, it's rare though, because the RAF obviously has their own airport."

"Yeah," said Harry, not wanting to get into any more detail, "What about you Piers?"

Piers looked a bit awkward, "Oh you know, jobs here and there, nothing special really."

Harry got the impression he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Harry!" as voice proclaimed loudly, breaking the sudden silence, followed by a friendly clap on the back, "Good to see you again mate."

Harry turned and smiled as his large, although musclier cousin greeted him warmly, "Hey Dudley, it's good to see you too, how's it going?"

"Good, good, I must say," grinned his cousin, "the markets a bit dry at the moment but it's alright."

Dudley worked at an architecture firm.

"That's great Dudley," Harry said, happy for his cousin, and then added slyly, "and the promotion…is that still alright?"

Dudley was also up for promotion.

He laughed, "Yeah, it seems set in stone now, just got to sign some papers and it's done."

"You're up for promotion?" asked Mrs Huxley in a much friendlier voice than what she used with Piers, Whitney and David, perhaps because it seemed Dudley had made amends with Harry. "Congratulations."

He grinned, "Yeah, me and Harry actually got put up on the exactly the same day, believe it or not."

"You're up for promotion too Harry?" asked Mrs Huxley, bewildered, "Why didn't you mention it!"

Harry laughed and scratched the back of his neck, "yeah the current Lieutenant-General is retiring so I'm going to take his place."

Well, technically, Kingsley Shacklebolt was retiring as Head Auror and Harry would be stepping up into the top job next month, but they didn't need to know that.

He was saved from anymore congratulations as a woman Harry recognised as his old school principle told everyone the 'video presentation' was about to begin and to please take their seats.

The presentation consisted of half an hour of slideshow images from their schooling years, a few of them were of ten year old Harry hitching up his too-large trousers and pushing his Scotch taped glasses onto the bridge of his nose as he stared up at the camera quizzically. Harry closed his eyes on these images; he didn't really like looking at himself.

Piers, however, shifted awkwardly when a photo came up of Harry covered in red paint, looking for the world like he'd just been run over. That was when Dudley and his gang had decided to give him a 'paint job' one freezing cold afternoon. Mrs Huxley had been the one to find him sobbing, curled up behind the bushes half way into last period.

It wasn't long before the presentation was over and there were nibblies and drinks for more socializing. Dudley got Harry a drink, perhaps feeling a little guilty about how miserable his cousin looked in all the photos.

Their previous group had doubled as Piers, Whitney and David had brought some old friends they'd just reunited with who Harry and Dudley didn't recognize, but they seemed to recognize them. And so yet again Harry had to explain his current work life as introduction to the newcomers before they introduced themselves. One was an upcoming politician, another was a vet, one was a nurse and the remaining two were both psychologists.

"So how's Ginny?" asked Dudley while the rest of the group talked amongst themselves.

"Ginny?" piped up Whitney's distinctive voice, immediately placing all the attention on her, Harry and Dudley, "Who's Ginny?"

"My wife," Harry answered.

"Your wife?" she repeated, looking slightly crestfallen.

"Yes, we've been married for eight years."

"_Eight years!"_ exclaimed Whitney, and a couple of the group whistled, impressed, "but that would make you…_seventeen_ when you married! That's a bit of a young, shot-gun wedding…."

Whitney didn't seem to notice her blatant rudeness this time. Harry, however, was becoming increasingly annoyed with her.

"As a matter of fact we just couldn't wait," he said coldly, "and we married only because we loved each other, nothing else."

"It was a beautiful wedding," said Dudley earnestly when Whitney finally fell silent, "I've still got that adorable photo of you and Teddy asleep on the couch at the reception, the one where he'd drooled all over your tuxedo."

"Oh I remember that one," Harry laughed, and then seeing the confused faces of the people around him added proudly, "Teddy's my son."

"That is so cute," said one of the psychologist strangers, a friendly looking woman with dark skin and chocolate eyes, "how old is he?"

"He'll be nine this October," Harry informed her excitedly, "he's getting so old now that soon he'll be off to high school!"

Dudley chuckled; Harry always became very animated when talking about his kids.

"But if Teddy's nine and you married eight years ago then that would mean…" Whitney trailed off at the look on Harry's face.

"Like I said before," he explained, "we married only for love. Teddy is my adopted son, but I still consider him one of my own. His parents were killed three months after he was born and I just happened to be his godfather and agreed to take him in. My own _biological_ son, so you could say, came along a year after we married."

"I remember that day," said Dudley lightly, "it was hectic."

Harry laughed, "you could say that!"

"So, you have _more_…children?" Choked out Whitney as though having any more than one child before twenty five was weird.

Harry smiled proudly, and Dudley noted in humour that his chest even puffed out slightly, "I have four children actually and two on the way."

"_Four!"_ gaped Whitney.

"Yep," Harry said smiling, "Teddy, James, Albus and Lily."

The crowd congratulated him and for once Harry wasn't embarrassed at the attention but actually drank up the praise. Most of the people there were barely out of college at twenty five years old and so had hardly thought about having a family.

"And _two on the way?_" continued Whitney, flabbergasted.

"Yep!" laughed Harry, "five months along now. Twins seem to run in Ginny's family."

"That's wonderful Harry," said Mrs Huxley, "I hope everything goes well for you and congratulations on your promotion, you too Dudley, but I better be heading off, it's rather late."

Harry smiled, "thanks Mrs Huxley, you were always a wonderful teacher to me."

"Oh no problem dear," she answered, "it was my pleasure."

She then went and said her goodbyes to all her other ex-students ( with a significantly cooler reception for Whitney) and then disappeared through the crowd.

"Well," said Harry, after everyone had begun talking again, "I better go too, I don't want to leave Ginny alone for too long."

Dudley nodded, "good idea."

Harry said his goodbyes as well and then disappeared through the crowd just like Mrs Huxley had and began walking towards his car. He was just about to reach it when Mrs Huxley's voice sounded behind him, slightly out of breath.

"Harry, wait," she said slightly breathlessly before calming down, "I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. I never forgot you, you know, never; and I'd always wondered if you'd ended up with a good life after your horrible primary years."

Harry was very touched, "thankyou Mrs Huxley that means a lot to me. I probably wouldn't have survived primary school without you."

She smiled and brought her slightly knotted and veined hands up to hold his face, "Like I said before, never lose that modesty Harry, it's your best trait. And its Anne from now on dear, Mrs Huxley makes me sound old."

With that she grinned at him then walked off leaving Harry with a warm contented feeling that only seem to come to occur when one of his children were born, and Harry knew then and there that whatever had happened in the past was irrelevant because right now, at this moment, all was well in his life.

* * *

**A/N: **Was it okay? Please tell me! It wasn't too soppy was it?


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